Pitchfork 2013: Sky Ferreira Explains the Delay of Her Full-Length Album

Sky Ferreira rarely gets a chance to relax: The 21-year-old singer, actress, and Saint Laurent model is constantly on the move, jetting around the world between concert gigs, movie sets, and photo shoots. So even though the rising electro-pop star wasn't slated to perform at Pitchfork Music Festival until Sunday afternoon, she happily arrived in Chicago on Friday, roamed the festival grounds to join headliner Björk and buzzing rock crew Savages for a late-night gig at local venue, Lincoln Hall. "I wanted to just be able to enjoy the festival," Ferreira told ELLE.com on Sunday, gazing off into the distance.

Since being discovered on Myspace just shy of her 15th birthday by Swedish production duo Bloodshy & Avant, the Los Angeles-born Ferreira has seen her profile steadily increase.

Still, label troubles ("I kind of got the short end of the stick," she said. "It keeps happening to me") and a perfectionist streak have resulted in her not yet releasing her long-anticipated debut album, I Will. Though, to tide over her fans—many of whom got behind her thanks to last fall's stunning Ghost EP—Ferreira plans to release a new EP this September. She said the new collection contains many songs she's been performing live in recent months.

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"I could release the [full-length] album in September and just have it come out and nothing really properly set up," she admitted. Instead, Ferreira chose to wait until next year to release her full-length LP, largely because she had the last-minute opportunity to work with certain people that she "couldn't believe had the time to do it." She declined to tell us who, but seeing as she's already worked with the likes of Garbage's Shirley Manson and iconic songwriter Linda Perry, chances are the collaborators are significant. "It was an opportunity I could not miss."

Ferreira said her full-length album has "more electronic stuff" than in the past and is indicative of her ever-evolving musical style. "I feel like I'm in between [pop and indie]," she offered. "I'm in a very hazy place. But I think it's a good thing. It's bought me more time to try and discover myself."

For Ferreira, such self-discovery also includes venturing into acting roles—her most recent being that of a Columbia University student caught in a cannibalistic nightmare in the upcoming Eli Roth-directed film, The Green Inferno. "The [character] I play is so the opposite of me," she says of her character in the film, Kaycee. To prepare for the film, which was shot in the Peruvian Amazon, Ferreira spent two weeks on Columbia's campus in New York City. "It was different," she said of the experience. "[The Columbia students] dress a certain way I wouldn't dress."

Speaking of her style, when Ferreira took the stage on Sunday, the singer was done up in a black mini-skirt and jean jacket combo, with a black lace, midriff-exposing shirt beneath. Does the multi-talented woman stress over how she dresses when performing? Said Ferreira: "It just has to be what I'm comfortable in."